


Trumpets of Charn

by redsnake05



Category: Chronicles of Narnia - C. S. Lewis
Genre: Gen, World War I
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-17
Updated: 2014-03-17
Packaged: 2018-01-16 01:23:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1326565
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/redsnake05/pseuds/redsnake05
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's only a matter of time before there is a deplorable world here too.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Trumpets of Charn

Polly Plummer was not the sort to let wet stockings and shoes get in the way of things that needed to be done. She made her way briskly across the sodden pavement, dodging the worst of the puddles left by artillery, holding her skirt up as best she could loaded down with equipment for the new field hospital. She glanced up at the ornate facade. It might once have been the most luxurious hotel in town. 

Inside, all luxury had gone, chased away by the grim spectacle of lines and lines of wounded men, transferred from the front and dropped off as carelessly as left luggage. Polly and the other nurses were greeted with weak cheers from the crowd. Dropping her equipment in the least crowded corner, Polly sought out the senior officer. There was no sign of other medical staff. Her lips tightened at that; it would be just them, again. She rolled up her sleeves and got to work.

Hours later, she stood in front of a window and stretched, watching the green hillsides run down to a plain, then up again to the westering sun. Next to her, another nurse snatched a break too. There was so much to do, and so few hands to do it. Polly had never turned away from a challenge, but she sometimes wished she'd never signed up. In a momentary pause in the distant sound of gunfire, she heard the blare and bray of trumpets.

"Trumpets of Charn," she said, under her breath. "It's only a matter of time before there's a deplorable word."

"Pardon?" asked the other nurse. Polly shook her head.

"Nothing," she said. "I was woolgathering, excuse me." 

Polly turned away from the window and back to the world; crowded, dirty, and painful. She forced a smile to her face and moved forward to do her duty.


End file.
